


Scarf

by MidnightMinx90



Series: Autumn AU's [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 04:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2373737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMinx90/pseuds/MidnightMinx90
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Found a "Autumn Au's" list on tumblr, and thought I'd give them all a try. <br/>Part one of my Shakarian AU series based on the list.</p><p>'this stranger on the street corner looks like they're severely unprepared for this cold weather, here, take my scarf, i was planning on donating it to goodwill anyways' au</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scarf

The turian looks lost. Jane’s barely seen any turians before in her life, but none of them had looked like this one.   
He doesn’t look around like knows where he is, nor how he should react to the red and gold trees starting to get covered in white. 

She wonders if they have winters and snow on the planet he comes from, though even if they do, there’s no guarantee he’s been born on that planet (she doesn’t know the name of it, but maybe she’ll ask someone).  
She knows that, like humans, aliens don’t just stick to their own home planets. Some leave and never return, others leave for a while but long to be back to what will always be their home planet.

And because he looks lost, she decides to give him her scarf. Well, not the one she was wearing, but the one she’d found in her closet when she’d moved. The one that had belonged to Kaidan.

Kaidan, who’d loved her but left her to travel space. Kaidan, who’d died serving the Alliance and left her alone back on Earth.

Jane doesn’t think she’ll ever be over him, but she’s learnt not to dwell on the past; learnt that thinking about the Major won’t bring him back.   
He’d only been a Staff Lieutenant when she last saw him alive, but he’d been posthumously awarded the rank of Major for his “brave sacrifice” or something like that.

When she’d found the scarf her had felt like it was being ripped from her chest, and she’d spent a while holding it close to her face, the last remnants of his smell upon the scarf.  
She hadn’t cried, but it had hurt like a bitch to be reminded of him in such a way.

But now, days later, she had cleaned the scarf and it smelled nothing like him anymore.  
And Jane had finally decided to get rid of it by giving it away to someone who didn’t know the story of the scarf or how its owner had died.  
To someone who needed it.

There are gangs on the street, running around trying to earn something, anything, to have something to eat and something to wear. Jane knows this, she’s seen them, has helped them before.   
Had planned to give the scarf away to the first kid she saw who’d need it.

But there is something about the turian standing alone that makes her heart ache for him, and she knows she’s found the new owner of the scarf.

“Here,” she says, holding it out to him with a smile. 

He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t move. He just looks at her.

“It’s a scarf,” Jane explains. “You wrap it around your neck to keep warm. Here, let me show you.”

She steps up to him without waiting for permission and wraps it around his neck, tying it at the front to keep it closed. 

“See. Isn’t that better?” She steps back to look at him and feels surprised at how well it fits him. It’s just a scarf, but the shade of blue and the silver details matches him so perfectly.

Jane feels unease at the way her heart skips a beat at the sight of him. 

The turian’s expression looks the same still, but there’s something comically strange about seeing him with the scarf on.  
Maybe it’s because this is the first time she’s seen anyone who’s not human with a scarf on, or maybe it’s because the lower part of his face is covered up, so he reminds her of a small child wrapped up a bit too tight.

Before she knows it, she’s laughing at the sight in front of her. The turian looks so grumpy that she can’t help it, even though laughing comes as a shock to her because she can’t remember the last time she did it.

She’s having trouble breathing from laughing so hard, but she just can’t stop now that she’s started.  
Her sides hurt and she clutches them as she doubled over.

Then a hand touches her shoulder and she stops instantly, sinking to her knees at the cold, snowy ground. 

Jane looks at him through tears she didn’t realise she’d shed until now. She notices he’s holding out his hand, so she takes it, accepting his help to get up. Normally she wouldn’t accept anyone’s help, not even Kaidan’s, but there’s something about this stranger, still wearing the scarf wrapped too tightly around his lower face.

She sees concern in his eyes, but not pity. It throws her off stride enough that she forgets she’s still holding his hand until he speaks.

“Garrus Vakarian.” His voice is muted, but Jane can still hear that his voice is gravelly.   
“Jane Shepard,” she replies through fading tears. She hates how her voice sounds, hates how apparent it is she’s cried.

It makes her feel weak, something she’s always considered herself to be anything but. 

She moves her hand to wipe away the tears, and finds she still holds his hand.   
Even so, she doesn’t let go, feels that she doesn’t want to. There’s comfort in contact, and it’s something she’s unknowingly denied herself for so long, scared to repeat what had happened with Kaidan.

Jane is surprised at that, but even more so at the fact that Garrus doesn’t let go either. He seems confused about the fact as well, as though he can’t believe he’s still in front of her and still wearing the scarf, or that he’d even touched her and offered her assistance in the first place.

“So, Garrus, ever had a coffee?” She asks, not because the silence is uncomfortable or she needs to speak, but because she wants to get to know him.

She’s never spoken to a turian before, but that’s not why she wants to talk to Garrus. No, Jane wants to get to know him because she can sense there’s something about him, and because he’s been out there, knows the galaxy in a way she doesn’t.

But she wants to learn about everything out there, and everything about this silent turian in front of her. She wants to ask him to take her with him when he’s going to leave because she’s ready to move on with her life, ready to see the sights and travel in ways she’s never done before.

She doesn’t see the smile through the scarf, but she can hear it in his voice when he answers her.

“Not yet. But I will for you.”


End file.
